Never Leave
by DanielFactoid
Summary: [complete]A romantic night doesn’t go exactly as Chandler had hoped. Oneshot, ninth season. Not exactly angst, but it’s hard to describe.


"Never Leave"

Genre: Romance/Angst

Rated: K+

Pairing(s): Phoebe/Ross… I mean… Monica/Chandler is the real pairing in here… :shifty eyes:

Summary: A romantic night doesn't go exactly as Chandler had hoped. Oneshot, ninth season. Not exactly angst, but it's hard to describe.

AN: Well, here it is. A Romance/Angst standalone. I wasn't planning on writing one of these for a while… but here you are. Um… Oh. Not that much angst, really… but there was no other way to describe this. Un-betaed, and I'm horrendous with grammar, so excuse the mistakes. Are there any volunteers for "Friends" beta readers out there? Because I need serious help…

Disclaimer: I don't own them, not one bit… But when Chandler's up for adoption, I call him!

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The candlelight flickered and danced around the apartment, casting odd shadows everywhere. Chandler Bing blew out the match as he lit the last candle, standing back and gazing around the room, admiring his work. It wasn't often he got to do something like this for Monica; he had spent the last few months in Tulsa, and had only been able to come home for two or three days a week at most. Now, he was home everyday, but still didn't get much time alone with his wife- he had picked up an unpaid internship, which forced Monica into longer hours at the restaurant.

So he had picked tonight to surprise her. She'd be home any minute (this caused him to think painfully of the rather late hour), and he was now waiting, surprisingly nervous, on the couch, trying to remember the last time they'd had a romantic night when they hadn't been trying to conceive.

His rather wistful thoughts were interrupted as the door opened and Monica entered, wearily putting down her purse. Chandler stood, and his heart fell a little as he noticed the bags under her eyes.

"Hey, honey," he said softly, and wrapped his arms around Monica, pulling her close. She closed her eyes as her arms draped around his neck, holding him for support. A few moments later, Monica opened her eyes and smiled a little.

"You lit candles," she said quietly, looking around the apartment as she pressed a little closer to Chandler.

"Mm hm," he murmured into her ear, "Just for you."

Her eyes closed again, but she continued to smile. Then, she buried her face into his shirt, her arms moving down to his torso, "I'm sorry… I'm just so tired…"

"I know," he said as her voice drifted off. Without letting the sigh escape his body, he continued quietly, stroking her hair, "It's okay… maybe you should just lie down."

She nodded and began to head towards their bedroom, still clinging on to Chandler. Her eyes remained closed, so he led them (he was forced to do a strange sort of crabwalk to avoid the candles). Then they entered the room, and he laid her gently on the bed. When he wasn't looking, Monica gave a very small smile- she felt a rose petal beneath her fingers.

After a moment's pause, he sat on the edge on the bed and gazed down at Monica. Her eyes opened and she propped herself up on one elbow, looking in to his eyes. A moment of comforting silence passed between the two, and then Chandler made to stand up.

In a surprisingly quick motion for one that looked so tired, Monica grabbed the hand that had just been making light patterns on the bedspread, "Don't leave."

Chandler took off his shoes, flashed her one of his famously cute smiles, and rested beside her, while never letting go of her hand. She moved back against his chest and melted into his body as his arms wrapped around her.

Her eyes fluttered shut once again and she murmured, "I love you, Chandler."

He closed his own eyes, even though he wasn't physically tired, life was taking its toll on him emotionally. The whole Tulsa fiasco still made him want to kick himself, and the fact that he hadn't yet been able to get Monica pregnant weighed on his mind every second of the day.

But still, something in him pushed out the only thought that was occurring to him at that moment.

"I love you too, Monica… and I'd never leave."

Satisfied, Monica smiled and fell into a world of dreams.

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Umm yeah. Just to fill an afternoon… that and Captain Picard… but he's not in this story, damn it! So review if ye want, you don't have to (well, you never _have_ to), because it was really short. And I'm serious about the beta readers thing!


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